Eternal
by hijinklum
Summary: Surely there was more to both Linnea and Rhunon than what we were told.


**Why don't you love me? **

My name is Linnea. I am an elf of Du Weldenvarden, daughter of Taeya and Arlvr, sister to Rhunon, the master smith of our people.  
I have spent my years singing to the many many plants that inhabit our great city. I never cared to chase after a mate, unlike my sister. Why would I when I had the love of my life spread out in front of me, the very forest which we inhabit!

Well, that was until a young man from Silthrim came to this beautiful city, Markus his name. He was an attractive young man, with shaggy brown hair, clear blue eyes and charm like you'd never believe. Curiosity got the better of me, and I befriended him. Over the days and weeks, I came to realise that he was wooing me. I, being foolish and quite in love, accepted him, and for a few blissfully short months, we were happy together. That was until one day, when I found that he had lost interest and moved to another, younger woman, while still with me. That piece I gleaned, unexpectedly, from a conversation between two of my fellow elves.

Furious and heartbroken, I armed myself with a simple dagger, concealed within my sleeve, and I went to where I knew him and the girl to be. I came across them in a small clearing that I knew very well. It was the place he would often come to with me, and just lay with me, enjoying the presence of both each other and the life around us. He was laying on the soft grass with her, much like we had done, and was speaking to her, telling her that he loved her, that he would never leave her side. This enraged me further, and I leapt towards them with a scream of anger and hurt. I plunged my little dagger into his heart then, overwhelmed with fury, sadness and loss.

The girl, who's name I never did learn, fled towards the city true at that moment, and I realised with horror just what I had done. I knew that I would never be forgiven. Even if I was, I could never go back to my simple life, singing to the plants and trees around me. I'd had a taste of love, and finally I had realised just what I'd missed the whole of my life. At that I went truly mad with grief, and fled towards the home of my sister, where I hid the dagger outside her courtyard, then went in to say goodbye to both her and her mate. With a final, tight hug, I was gone from her house, and her life, forever.

She tried to follow me, but I was much too quick. I was but a gust of wind for the speed with which I ran. Very soon, I reached my goal: The largest tree in the whole of the Guarding Forest. It was larger than the others by one hundred times, perhaps more, and had been a favourite place of mine before I met the man that was to meet his end at my hand. The tree was so huge that it was very rare to meet anyone while you wandered the field around it, or curled up in a secluded hollow formed by the mass of twisting, arcing roots. Making my way to my very favourite spot, I stood tall. I would repent for my crimes, in one way or another.

Pressing myself flush against the great tree, taking a deep breath, I started to sing. I sang of the pine, of its vast beauty, and the many, smaller pines around it. I sang of how it would be my greatest pleasure for it to grow up and around me, enveloping me. For three days I sang, and slowly, slowly the bark came to encase me.

As my final notes faded into silence, the last of the bark came to encase me, making me once and for all, a part of my beloved nature.

Several years later, the tree that I became a part of became known as the Menoa Tree, the guardian of the whole of Du Weldenvarden and the beings that inhabit it.

Over the years that have elapsed since that fateful day, I have watched many a romance bloom or wither beneath the branches of this, the most majestic being in all of the forest. I have watched celebrations and mourning, the rise and fall of several monarchs, and even the small, every day moments in life. My sister eventually came to find what I had done, and would often come and sit, just talking to me.

One day she revealed a secret to me- she was to become a mother. She was worried that she would be shunned, for she was still quite young, but she found the strength to move forward. Over the years, I watched my nephew grow from a tiny child to a fierce warrior, and great man. He well and truly did both his parents, and his aunt proud.

Then he was chosen, by a dragon, to become a Rider, the greatest honour. He and his bond partner lived many a year, with an amazingly close bond, even for Shur'tugal and Bjartskular. That was until Galbatorix rose with the Forsworn, and they took wing, to defend our homeland once and for all.

They never did return, slain while trying to save another pair of their order. Rhunon was distraught, agony nearly driving her mad. But slowly, she came to realise that it would do nothing to bring them back. So she devoted herself to her work, more and more, until eventually nothing else mattered. Not even her home, or even her mate.

And I watched over the forest, ever silent and ever patient, as the world went on around me.

More recently, a new bonded pair have come to visit the dusky pines of Ellesmera. They, besides Glaedr and Oromis, are the last surviving bond-pair free from the reign of Galbatorix. The Rider, named after the elf who brought peace between the warring Elves and Skulblaka, reminds me a lot of my nephew. He is extremely determined to accomplish what he must, but this young man carries the weight of our world upon his shoulders.

He is in love with someone he cannot have, much like I was...

My name is Linnea, and I am more than just the woman who stabbed a man.

**A/N - I know, yet another story, terrible of me. This kind of idea has been in my head for a while – the fact that maybe, just maybe, Rhunon is related to Linnea... About the names of her parents, I dunno how, but they popped into my head. Pronunciation would be Tay-uh for her mother, Arl-vur for her father .I dunno why I named her mate Markus, but I did. Capiche? So tell me my pretties, what do you think? Feel free to tell me in a review!  
Much Love,**

**Shadow-KissedKK.  
P.S-Whatever shall I change my username to? Check the poll on my profile for more details!**


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